Whitney Peak Hotel
| Whitney Peak Hotel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Former names | Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel, CommRow |
| General information | |
| Address | 255 North Virginia Street |
| Town or city | Reno, Nevada |
| Country | United States |
| Completed | 1976 |
| Opening | May 17, 2014 |
| Renovated | 2014 |
| Owner | DRW Holdings LLC |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
The Whitney Peak Hotel is a luxury boutique non-gaming hotel in downtown Reno, Nevada, that previously operated as Fitzgeralds Hotel Casino & Hotel and CommRow.
History
Lincoln Fitzgerald, owner of the Nevada Club casino, began construction on a new 16-story, 347-room hotel and casino in 1974.[1] Fitzgeralds opened in May 1976, at a total cost of $16 million.[1]
After Fitzgerald's death in 1981, his widow, Meta, sold the property in 1986 to the Lincoln Management Company for $26.25 million.[1]
Fitzgerald's Reno was the last of 4 properties owned by Fitzgeralds Gaming to be sold after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000. Prior to this, sister properties were located in Las Vegas, Tunica, Mississippi and Black Hawk, Colorado.
In 2005 Monarch Casino & Resort, owner of the Atlantis casino, attempted to acquire Fitzgeralds. In April 2007, L3 Development, a development firm based out of Chicago, Illinois, announced its intention to purchase the property and convert it into a boutique hotel.[2]
On November 1, 2007, ownership of the Fitzgeralds officially transferred to a joint partnership between L3 Development and RAC II LLC, marking the first time in decades that the property was under private ownership.
On October 1, 2008, Fitzgeralds announced its imminent closure in November 2008. 470 employees were laid off and the new ownership evaluated options for the property. The lower floors re-opened as CommRow on October 1, 2011 with the world's tallest climbing wall constructed on the exterior, CommRow was designated to have a hotel component but this never materialized and the business model as a whole, struggled and closed down on January 1, 2013.
Whitney Peak Hotel was announced as CommRow's replacement and the Chicago based ownership decided it was going to gut the aging structure and rebuild from scratch, the multi million renovation has culminated to a grand opening set for Memorial Day weekend 2014. The completely renovated property will show no trace of the prior CommRow or Fitzgeralds casino. The 164' exterior climbing wall and indoor climbing boulders are the only remnants from the past business model. On the 1st floor, Chicago's 555 International design firm has laid out a completely new floor plan where slots and table games used to be, Heritage, a new American urban hip restaurant will open under the direction of celebrity chef Mark Estee, and Cargo, an 1100 capacity concert venue. The 2nd floor will reopen as BaseCamp, completely renovated. And 157 of the hotel's more than 300 rooms have been renovated and will reopen.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kling, Dwayne (2010). The Rise Of The Biggest Little City: An Encyclopedic History Of Reno Gaming. University of Nevada Press. p. 50. ISBN 0-87417-829-0. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
- ↑ "Chicago development company agrees to buy aging Reno casino". April 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
External links
Coordinates: 39°31′41″N 119°48′50″W / 39.527959°N 119.813897°W